Keep all those promises!

Wrestler Ravi Dahiya; Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra; Wrestler Bajrang Punia; Boxer Lovlina Borgohain; Badminton champ PV Sindhu; Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and Indian hockey team. Pic/AFP

The best thing about the Tokyo Olympics has been the terrific coverage about the various sports in the media, both print and electronic.

While understandably thanks to the pandemic, not many newspapers were able to send their people for live coverage but whatever was being reported was top-class. They may have only been doing their reporting from watching on TV, but then, that could well be the future in most sports even after the pandemic is hopefully over. I am not sure how vital it is for reporters to be at the venue for other sports since I am only aware of the need for that in cricket and not other sports.

The problem with studio reporting

In cricket the pitch, the outfield, the wind factor, the length of the boundaries where sometimes one boundary length can be bigger or smaller than on the other side are some factors that make it essential for those covering the game to be on site than reporting it from the studio. So often when the ball is hit in the air the guys in the studio have not much of an idea of the power and timing and so can end up saying the wrong thing like "it's a great shot" only to find the batsman being caught inside the boundary or sometimes the other way around saying, "that could be caught" only to find the ball has sailed over the ropes. The wind factor also is crucial in talking about which end a bowler should be bowling or not bowling from and when talking about going for the extra run or not where the boundary lengths are different.

In cricket, the term all-rounder is used for a player, who can bowl and as bat, say someone like a Ravindra Jadeja and Ben Stokes to give just two names. In fact, at the international level there aren't that many all-rounders. However, the media coverage for this Olympics has shown that there are plenty of people, who can be called all-rounders for covering different sports, some of which are hardly seen in India.

The India-England series started towards the last few days of the Olympics, but even after that, the coverage was mainly for Olympics, which should satisfy those who are perennially moaning that cricket gets more attention in the media. That is not the cricketers' fault of course, but again, it's hard to explain why cricket gets more media space most days.

The country is rejoicing in the medals won by our sportspersons especially the women and many an award has been announced which is fantastic of course. It will be interesting to see though if the promises are kept. Jumping on the bandwagon and getting publicity or brand visibility is an old trick and it will be for the media to follow up and ensure that the promises of prizes and awards are kept and to see that the winners and they themselves, the media has not been used by the award announcers.

We know from the experience of the 1983 Cricket World Cup win how many prizes, monetary and otherwise were announced and how many the players actually got and can assure you that more than 95 per cent of the awards announced never came the players' way. Some companies who did keep their promise folded up after a decade or so, or some brands just disappeared from the market place. But at least they kept their word for those early years. The rest just got their publicity and nobody followed up with them to inquire if they were keeping their word. Even at the state government level many a winner has had to wait a long time and make several trips to the offices to get the reward announced for him/her.

Inspiration to youngsters

The performances of our athletes has supercharged the country and many a youngster will be looking at sport other than cricket which is wonderful. But if that enthusiasm is to be sustained and taken forward it's important that the media ensures the award winners get their awards else the budding ones will think what's the point spending your youth in the pursuit of sporting glory when that does not help to put food on the table for them and their families.

Professional Management Group

Announced rewards for India's medallists at the Tokyo Olympics

. Indian Olympic Association: Rs 75 lakh, Rs 40 lakh and Rs 25 lakh per gold, silver and bronze medal respectively.

. Haryana government: Rs 6 crore to Neeraj Chopra, Rs 4 crore to silver medallist Ravi Dahiya and Rs 2.5 crore to each Indian hockey player from the state.

. Punjab government: Rs 2 crore to Neeraj and Rs 1 crore to each Indian hockey player from the state.

. Byju's: Rs 2 crore for Neeraj and R1 crore each for all other medallists.

. BCCI: Rs 1 crore for Neeraj, Rs 50 lakh each for silver medallists Mirabai Chanu and Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Rs 25 lakh each for bronze medallists PV Sidhu, Lovlina Borgohain and Bajrang Punia, Rs 1.25 crore to bronze medal-winning Indian men's hockey team.

. Railway ministry: Rs 2 crore to Mirabai.

. Manipur govt: Rs 1 crore to Mirabai.

. Chennai Super Kings: Rs 1 crore to Neeraj

. IndiGo airlines: Unlimited free travel for one year for Neeraj.

. Elan group: Rs 25 lakh to Neeraj.

. Mahindra: XUV 700 car to Neeraj.

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